Airwallex Envisions ‘Global Billing Platform’ With OpenPay Deal

Airwallex acquired OpenPay to bring the latter’s billing and analytics capabilities to its financial platform.

The deal is designed to bolster the platform, strengthening Airwallex’s position against other players like Stripe Billing and Recurly, while helping Airwallex customers unlock and automate revenue growth, according to a Wednesday (Sept. 3) press release provided to PYMNTS.

“Most billing systems are locked in the past; they were never designed for a global, multi-currency world,” Airwallex co-founder and CEO Jack Zhang said in the release. “That’s the gap we’re closing. By bringing OpenPay’s subscription management, orchestration and analytics capabilities into Airwallex, we’re creating the first truly global billing platform. The OpenPay team brings deep technical strength and a shared conviction in our vision, and we’re thrilled to have them on board as we help businesses scale seamlessly across borders.”

OpenPay CEO Lance Co Ting Keh said in the release that the acquisition helps his company expand on its vision of smarter recurring revenue management.

“In Airwallex, we found a partner who shares our vision, our DNA and has the global reach to apply our work at scale,” he said. “We are very proud of what we’ve built and excited for our next chapter as we partner with Airwallex to set a new standard, creating a paradigm shift in global payments.”

OpenPay’s features include smart payment routing, artificial intelligence-driven retention tools, and subscription management for tiered, usage-based and flat fee models, according to the release.

“Demand for hybrid and usage-based billing, tied to actual product usage as opposed to static, seat-based pricing, is rising as AI companies and other consumption-led businesses monetize by tokens, calls and computes,” the release said. “With OpenPay, Airwallex will offer built-in usage-based billing that works across borders and currencies.”

The PYMNTS Intelligence report “Fitting the Bill: How Automated Bill Presentment and Payment Are Transforming Business” found that customers express less tolerance for slow processing of their bill payments, with 70% saying they expect their bill payments to be processed the same day or instantly.

“As a result, 65% of customers are more likely to select a payment method that offers real-time processing than a traditional method,” the report revealed. “With 34% of customers using digital wallets for this purpose when available, service providers should cater to this preference for faster, digital bill payment options.”